


Sparks

by isquinnabel



Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 23:19:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5645473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isquinnabel/pseuds/isquinnabel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal is fascinating, exciting, and a lot of fun. But, at the end of the day, Sara isn’t exactly convinced that she can trust him. (Potterverse AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sparks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sheenianni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheenianni/gifts).



> Happy fandom stocking, sheenianni! I was very excited when I saw that you like both White Collar and all kinds of AUs. For some reason, putting this show into the Potterverse felt right.

Sara is just about ready to scream.

Her day has been long and tedious, with mountains of paperwork and zero action. It’s been the sort of day that makes her want to do something reckless, just so she has a fire of some sort to put out – anything to get her blood pumping. Even a literal fire, if that’s what it takes.

She isn’t done until sometime after seven. She strides from the Sterling-Bosch offices, heels echoing on the hard tile of the entrance, the evening air deliciously cool against her skin.

With graceful indifference, she slips into a nearby alleyway. A conveniently angled dumpster shields it from the stray glances of passers-by – a safeguard put in place decades ago by Winston Bosch. Half of Sterling-Bosch’s employees, to say nothing of its clients, rely on that dumpster. The other half, however, can’t understand why the city never seems to lug it back into place.

Two seconds and one loud _crack_ later, Sara’s walking through June’s front gate.

While she eats a hasty dinner, Neal tries to cheer her up by making her turquoise bracelet disappear. She’d never admit it to him, but one of Sara’s favorite things about Neal is that she can’t tell the difference between his sleight of hand and a vanishing spell.

On the other hand, this is also her least favorite thing about Neal.

“That better be up your sleeve, Caffrey.”

\---

The next morning, Sara’s first stop is an antiquities dealer in New Diagon. Yesterday may have been frustrating, but it hadn’t been fruitless. She scored a lead on her highest priority case – a twelfth century goblin-made tiara – and she has questions that need answering.

June’s place isn’t hooked up to the floo network. But even if it were, Neal still wouldn’t be able to use it. The resulting anomalies in his tracking data would be impossible to explain, even for Neal. Not without confunding Peter first.

“Have you ever confunded Peter?” she asks, adding the final touches to her makeup.  
“Why? Do you need me to?”  
“Well.” She snaps the clasp on her compact. “There’s my answer.”  
“I’ve only done it once.”  
“Seriously? Just once?”  
“It wasn’t during anything important. I just didn’t want to hear his kung pao chicken story again.”  
“Right,” she says, unable to keep the doubt from her voice. Neal has a whole lot of complicated rules concerning when it’s okay to use magic in a muggle environment, and when it isn’t. He’s adamant about never using magic during a muggle con, for example. Or as part of any forgery process (she refuses to say “alleged”). Neal doesn’t use magic during any muggle process that he considers an art form.

Allegedly, anyway.

“I did, however, enhance the coffee machine with a select combination of charms yesterday. The White Collar Unit’s coffee is almost passable now.”  
He changes the subject so neatly; if she wanted to, she could convince herself to believe him.  
“Huh. Is there a boy scout badge for that?”  
He flashes a wicked grin at her.  
“I also got Jones with a humming jinx. Do I still get my badge?”  
“Quite the productive day you had.”  
“Hey, give me a break. We’ve had a string of real estate frauds lately, I need to keep my spirits up.”  
“Fair enough,” she concedes, leaning in to kiss him. His body is warm, and echoes of the previous night play in her mind. The kiss lasts much longer than she originally intended. After one last murmur, a squeezed wrist, and a couple of wide grins, Sara picks up her purse and heads for the door.

\---

The gate closes behind her with a satisfying creak. There’s an entrance to New Diagon just five blocks from June’s place, and the morning sunlight makes the world feel fresh and light. It’s exactly the kind of day to opt for walking over apparating.

Today holds a lot more promise than yesterday; starting off in this particular store, surrounded by exquisite antiques, is just the beginning. Over the years, she’s developed a reliable gut sense for when a lead is going to get her somewhere, and she feels good about this one. She feels good about this whole day, in fact. That tiara will be hers by the end of the week, and it’s going to feel magnificent.

Despite all this, she can’t quite shake the discomfort gnawing at her stomach. Neal’s change of subject, back at the apartment – it was so smooth and comfortable. He was either talking comfortably, with no ulterior motive, or he was steering the conversation away from the idea of confunding a federal agent.

Maybe he had every reason to be smooth and comfortable. Maybe he truly is above board in his dealings with the FBI.

Still, if she ever recovers her Raphael, she’s getting it authenticated by magical fraud agents.


End file.
